Michael Pollan Speaks at WSU
On Wednesday night I saw a presentation by Michael Pollan at WSU in Pullman, WA. It was amazing and enlightening. I love all his books and have found his work to be inspirational. It is also apparent that what he has been writing and speaking about has struck a chord with many people. There seems to be a sea change happening in how we view food and farming and I am thrilled. The coliseum had at least a few thousand people there and if only a small percentage of those folks make any of the changes Michael suggested, that would be awesome.
Michael's presentation did have new information in it that I hadn't read in any of his other books. He presented the agricultural problem as having three main related issues/crises: oil use, health, and climate change. He showed the connection between each crisis and our (American) dominant agricultural practices. Of course oil is connected to every aspect of modern ag. There is the petroleum we spread all over the crops in the form of fertilizer, pesticide and herbicide. Then all the petroleum used to harvest, process and transport our foodstuffs. Getting off the teat of big oil will be a boon to our ag practices and positively affect our health. Most of the 'food' Americans eat really isn't food anymore. Michael likes to call it 'food like substances'. Really - look at those things on a grocery shelf and try to tell me you could reproduce it at home with simple whole ingredients. Impossible! You can't make high fructose corn syrup in the kitchen and some of the chemicals we eat are derivatives of oil. Yum. This crappy diet leads to crappy health. And last but not least is the affect all this large industrial agriculture has on the environment is staggering. We have reduced biodiversity, pumped tons of carbon into the atmosphere, and added strange new chemicals to nature that couldn't have evolved on there own.
Thankfully Michael spent most of the time sharing information about the solutions to the problems via the innovative agricultural systems he has seen first hand. One of my favorite farmers that he first brought to my attention was Joel Salatin at Polyface Farm. Joel's rotational system is awe inspiring. He knows his land and animals better than most modern farmers who work in the industrial farm complexes. He has no need for the industrial pesticides or herbicides because he allows nature to do what nature does best. Joel doesn't fight nature at all. What a concept eh? AND his production is massive. So all those folks who like to say it can't be done need to check this guy out.
A new person and organization to me was Will Allen at Growing Power Inc.. Will founded the farm on three acres and harvests more than 1 MILLION POUNDS of high quality food annually! Can you believe it? There is a great video on YouTube that show how the system works. It provides great inspiration for what can be done in cities. You don't need to have 10 acres of pasture to produce food for people.
Seems to me that the creative thinking and determination of people who recognize that our current agricultural system just doesn't work is what will drive the future of our 'real food system'. We, as a country, just need to admit that we need to change something to make us healthier, less dependent on oil and have a positive affect on our environment.
Michael Pollan had a few great suggestions for the average person who isn't going to be growing mass quantities of food.
1. Eat food (not food like substances), not too much, mostly plants
2. Cook your own food from real ingredients (not from a box)
3. Eat with your family
4. Spend more money on less food (buy high quality, healthy food that nourishes you not cheap junk food that makes you sick)
I urge you to check out his website, search for videos of him speaking on YouTube, visit the websites of farms he talks about, READ his books and most of all contemplate your own eating beliefs and habits.
Michael has written numerous books including: The Omnivores Dilemma, In Defense of Food, and most recently Food Rules. He was also in a few documentaries: Food Inc., The Future of Food, and Fresh.
Michael's presentation did have new information in it that I hadn't read in any of his other books. He presented the agricultural problem as having three main related issues/crises: oil use, health, and climate change. He showed the connection between each crisis and our (American) dominant agricultural practices. Of course oil is connected to every aspect of modern ag. There is the petroleum we spread all over the crops in the form of fertilizer, pesticide and herbicide. Then all the petroleum used to harvest, process and transport our foodstuffs. Getting off the teat of big oil will be a boon to our ag practices and positively affect our health. Most of the 'food' Americans eat really isn't food anymore. Michael likes to call it 'food like substances'. Really - look at those things on a grocery shelf and try to tell me you could reproduce it at home with simple whole ingredients. Impossible! You can't make high fructose corn syrup in the kitchen and some of the chemicals we eat are derivatives of oil. Yum. This crappy diet leads to crappy health. And last but not least is the affect all this large industrial agriculture has on the environment is staggering. We have reduced biodiversity, pumped tons of carbon into the atmosphere, and added strange new chemicals to nature that couldn't have evolved on there own.
Thankfully Michael spent most of the time sharing information about the solutions to the problems via the innovative agricultural systems he has seen first hand. One of my favorite farmers that he first brought to my attention was Joel Salatin at Polyface Farm. Joel's rotational system is awe inspiring. He knows his land and animals better than most modern farmers who work in the industrial farm complexes. He has no need for the industrial pesticides or herbicides because he allows nature to do what nature does best. Joel doesn't fight nature at all. What a concept eh? AND his production is massive. So all those folks who like to say it can't be done need to check this guy out.
A new person and organization to me was Will Allen at Growing Power Inc.. Will founded the farm on three acres and harvests more than 1 MILLION POUNDS of high quality food annually! Can you believe it? There is a great video on YouTube that show how the system works. It provides great inspiration for what can be done in cities. You don't need to have 10 acres of pasture to produce food for people.
Seems to me that the creative thinking and determination of people who recognize that our current agricultural system just doesn't work is what will drive the future of our 'real food system'. We, as a country, just need to admit that we need to change something to make us healthier, less dependent on oil and have a positive affect on our environment.
Michael Pollan had a few great suggestions for the average person who isn't going to be growing mass quantities of food.
1. Eat food (not food like substances), not too much, mostly plants
2. Cook your own food from real ingredients (not from a box)
3. Eat with your family
4. Spend more money on less food (buy high quality, healthy food that nourishes you not cheap junk food that makes you sick)
I urge you to check out his website, search for videos of him speaking on YouTube, visit the websites of farms he talks about, READ his books and most of all contemplate your own eating beliefs and habits.
Michael has written numerous books including: The Omnivores Dilemma, In Defense of Food, and most recently Food Rules. He was also in a few documentaries: Food Inc., The Future of Food, and Fresh.
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